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A Conversation with Cheryl Toy
(Art Director)
Q: How would you decribe the look of WITCHBLADE?
A: What I guess the most important influence on the whole thing is, from my point of view, the fact that it's urban. The fact that it's not pretty. It's very real. It's very gritty. It's extremely current. So I think visually it's very relevant. There are environments that everybody would recognize. But they're also poetic at the same time. It's something that's gritty and dark and real. But just push that a tiny wee bit so that it becomes poetic.
Q: Do you find any special challenges when you're shooting in one city that needs to double for another?
A: Well sure. You do find challenges, but Toronto shoots really, really well for New York. We have the same weather, basically. We have the same kind of topography. And we have a similar, although it's not the same density or population, but we have a dense population. So buildings are quite close together. Streets are fairly narrow. That sort of thing and that helps. But certainly there are visually identifiable Canadian issues that we come up against all the time like the CN tower, like street signs, like maple leaves here and there, post boxes. Any number of things that are identifiable -- parking meters parking permits, license plates, that sort of thing.
Q: What was your first step in prepping this season?
A: Well, at that point we're coordinating the construction of a number of sets that stand throughout all of the episodes. So that would be our first, our primary concern. And that's really the sort of template for the whole look too. And downstairs we've created a precinct environment; Sara's loft; Talismaniac, for Gabriel Bowman; Irons' lair; and then a couple of other smaller environments that play on a regular basis like the the forensics lab. And now we're building a police gym and a set of holding cells. We have an interrogation area. All of those things. So that sort of sets the tone visually and that's what we did in prep. Basically, Franco (De Cotiis, Production Designer) designed and we constructed it. All of those sets we use on a recurring basis. Then once we start shooting episodically then you have the challenge of all the locations. So with every episode comes new demands. And we basically can leave those standing sets as they are with just touch-ups afterwards and go right on to dealing with the demands of the stories that we have for every episode.
Q: And how much time do you have generally?
A: We're on an eight-day schedule, and that's revolving. So that means that our first day of shooting for one episode is our first day of prep for the next episode. So ideally we would be able to prep an episode in eight days while we were shooting another episode, so you have a little bit of overlap, and that can get a little bit tense at times like today (LAUGHTER). But we function quite well. We've got a brilliant department so that helps. And everyone understands their job. Everyone was here last year, with the exception of a new production assistant who's new this year. But yeah, so we do have some continuity.
Q: Are there motifs specific to the series that reoccur throughout the episodes?
A: Yes. I think between Franco and Ralph (Hemecker, Executive Producer) they have hammered out a basic palette for this show and an overall idea for the show, a visual identity for the show that is punctuated by light. Lighting has become very important and we've had the good fortune to be able to have a lot of control over that as well, environmental lighting. But I think that overall it's a very neutral palette. Franco is very, very fond of color. So we've started with a basic palette of neutral colors, which he likes to punch up with lots of brights where they're needed. So that adds a little bit of visual punctuation to things as we move through the episodes.
Q: How does this process work script by script? How do you begin the translation of what a scene reads like to what the scene is going to look like?
A: That's the best part of episodic television as far as I'm concerned. Because the first thing we do when a script is just brand new, we have what we call a preliminary concept meeting. And at that point it's very, very loose at that time. The script is very loose. And we're able to sit down around a table in a really informal atmosphere and just discuss what the overall concepts for the script are. And those are dramaturgical story issues. Those are visual issues. Those are budgetary issues a lot of the time. Timeline issues. It's our chance to red flag it when we think something might be going over budget or over the time that we have. Then that all can gestate for a few weeks because we're working on another script. And within sort of ten days, we have our first concept meeting, which includes our director, which we don't have at the pre-concept stage. So by the time the director rolls into town we have enough information and enough time to think that we can discuss concept on a firmer basis with him. And that lets him inject his vision into the mixture as well. Then they start scouting for locations. And that's probably the most definitive step that we take, because then we are really locked into timeline, deadlines, we are really locked limitations that a space might offer, or the wild possibilities that a space might offer. It's very schedule driven at that point also. So that gives us an indication of how much we're gonna have to build in this department, where we're going, how we're going to manage the manpower and the money. And from there of course you have a technical survey and then a production meeting.
And from then it's just get it done as fast as we can.
Q: What is the major difference, visually, between Seasons 1 and 2?
A: There are two major ones, for me anyway, from my point of view. First of all, it's the fact that we're not linking the stories the way we did last year. So last season there was a really distinct continuity from episode to episode. And this season the episodes are much more contained. So you might have Sara face a series of obstacles in an episode, solve them and then wrap that up. . .But I think they've made a success of the idea because the mystic issues, the things that she doesn't understand, the challenges that the Witchblade brings her, the new abilities that the Witchblade brings her, they're being treated in an ongoing way.
Q: They're the link. . .
A: Yeah exactly. That's it exactly. They're being examined in a way that has a really continuous thread. So I think that helps to hold the whole thing together. That's the biggest difference. . . I think it almost focuses attention on the Witchblade in that way. Even though we're still aware of the fact that Sara's a cop. And that's the face that she presents to the world. . . and it's kind of voyeuristic in a way, 'cause we're lucky enough to see the other side of Sara and what's going on inside her head and in her personal world. So I think it works very well. To be perfectly honest with you I had my doubts. I was a little bit skeptical when I read the outlines at the beginning of the season.
Q: Are there any episodes in particular that stand out as especially challenging?
A: Oh man! They're all challenging. I'm telling you they really, really are all challenging. They all have their individual little obstacles, but I can't think of anything where I've looked at and went, okay, that's just stupid. (LAUGHTER) And that's the beauty of this whole setup and this whole group is that we get these challenges and we go oh my god, how are we gonna solve that? And we do. We rely on one another and we meet the challenge every single time I think, as a unit.
Q: How does WITCHBLADE compare to other projects that you've worked over the years?
A: This is the best project I have ever worked on, and I say that with complete honesty. I like the whole episodic television format anyway because I like the rhythm of it. I like the fact that it's a little bit longer. But somehow they managed to assemble a really, really talented, amazing group of people, that I mean what are the odds that you're gonna get -- how many of us are there? Like eighty, eighty-five or something? A hundred on a revolving basis, by the time you count all the sort of satellite people. What are the odds of everybody getting along the way we do? Are able to work together the way we do. I really have to say it's our producers. Vikki (Williams, Producer) was actually just here talking about that saying that. She was talking about another project and problems that they were experiencing and she felt that a lot of times the first place to check for problems was your first line of management. And I agree. And I thought to myself, that's one of the reasons why this works so well is because the rational approach to this whole thing is so married to the creative part of it, that that can't help but trickle down all through. These people are reasonable and rational and creative all at the same time . . .and energetic. I've never felt like we've passed the ball back into that end of the office ever when someone dropped it. I mean they're very responsive and WITCHBLADE's the best thing I've ever worked on. And I'm really proud of that when I see it on television.
Q: And you should be! It looks fantastic. Thanks so much.
A: Thank you.
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